Chisaki
by ScarletCamellia
Summary: A thousand cherry blossoms smell even more potent and strong when they're all crushed. But they're bruised, and they're never the same. Sasuke knew she wasn't the same, and he knew he was the only one to blame.


Disclaimer: I don't own anything, kay? BACK OFF. RAWR.

Had an idea that I couldn't get out of my head. Enjoy!

* * *

Sasuke smirked. All those years away from them, he had not lost his Uchiha-patented, arrogant, holier-than-thou smirk.

But to his surprise, that smirk was not met with fangirlish, I-love-you, hearts-in-her-eyes fawning. They were met only with glittering green, narrowed into emerald slivers that almost resembled the glowing, green senbon hanging loosely between her slender, calloused fingers.

The smirk remained firmly planted on Sasuke's face.

Sakura's green eyes relaxed to the normal determination. Those peridot irises glimmered, he noted. Not with tears anymore. He didn't know what.

But once the actual fight began, he instantly recognized the unnatural, _unhealthy_ sparkle in her wide eyes. It was the sadism he always saw in his own obsidian eyes. But it didn't look right in Sakura's lighter ones. She was bright, happy, bubbly. _He _was the bloodthirsty one, out for revenge.

But it was Itachi who had made him that way, who had crushed him and made him this. Itachi, who had lit the fire in his eyes. But who had lit the fire, the spark, in her eyes? Who could have crushed her?

He did. Of course. How could he forget.

But he hadn't killed anybody before he left. He hadn't murdered all of them.

But he had come close. He had almost killed Naruto. And the Sound Four had almost killed the rest of them. He was responsible.

The Rookie Nine were a family, with more and more members as time went on. Naruto was the closest of all to Sakura, her brother...how could she _not _want revenge for that?

He had been the one to crush her. The little sakura tree nestled among the other trees was in full bloom and rustled violently in the approaching thunderstorm, sending blossoms and petals fluttering uselessly.

* * *

Sakura hated - no, despised - that word, useless. It had once been applied to her, in the shadows of Sasuke. When he had ground her beneath his heel, she peeled all uselessness away from herself and _burned_ it, she had never wanted to apply that word to herself again.

Her fist connected with the ground, and the tree was too close. Helpless, it split and fell. The scent of crushed cherry filled the air. Bruised and torn petals scattered, blanketing the earth like baby-pink snow.

* * *

Sasuke's Chidori, enhanced by the gathering static in the air, raced towards Sakura, who gracefully and lithely danced out of the way.

It hardened into a Raikiri just as Sakura flickered and disappeared.

The Raikiri shot through the felled sakura tree instead, setting it ablaze. The still-soft petals on the ground seemed to quiver.

Sasuke ducked just in time as Sakura reappeared behind him.

* * *

The fire burned quickly, and the tree was only smoldering embers by the time Sakura managed to knock Sasuke face first onto the burnt cherry petals.

As Sakura approached him - sprawled across the charred cherrywood which was quickly disintegrating into ash - the thunder hanging overhead finally roared to life. The rain steamed and sizzled on the still-hot tree, and mixed with the ash to turn into inky black. The sky thundered again as the rain came down harder, and Sasuke was briefly reminded of his time in Ame.

Sakura crossed the clearing quickly, trampling soaked cherry petals under her toeless boots. The scent of cherries was almost overpowering now, as the majority of the blossoms had been mangled.

When a cherry blossom is crushed, the scent becomes more powerful, so much more powerful. It becomes stronger than it ever could have been while whole. But it also becomes bruised and wilted, and it is never quite the same.

Sasuke didn't need to turn around; he could feel the sadistic glint burning into his back more painfully than he could feel the burning embers he was smothering under his bare chest.

He didn't need to turn around - he could almost see the glimmer in her eyes hovering above his head, and he knew she wasn't the same, and he knew that he was the only one to blame.

* * *

She couldn't kill him. Even if she wanted to, this mission was to _retrieve _Sasuke. She rolled her eyes in frustration before leaning towards him.

* * *

Sasuke stiffened when she leaned forward, her pink hair falling into view on one side of his head. He snarled in pain at how his muscles cramped as he stiffened again, hearing the clink of a kunai being drawn. He hated himself for what he was about to do, but he had to, he had to survive.

"Don't." he said hoarsely. "Please." Sakura chuckled in his ear. There was a rustle of fabric as the cold tip of a kunai pressed against his bare back, digging slightly into his spine.

"And why shouldn't I?" she whispered darkly. Her hair had grown longer, and it tickled his nose, carrying the overwhelming scent of ground cherry. Sasuke, low on blood and chakra, almost lost consciousness from the strong smell. Gritting his teeth, he stayed awake.

He didn't even have the strength left to blush. "I...love you?" he offered feebly.

Sakura stood up abruptly and laughed, not cackling, but just laughing. Sasuke could hear the doubt in her laughter, the disbelief. She thought he was lying. Was he?

Of course not. How could he forget. He shivered in the cold rain.

When she finally stopped, breathless, she stared at the back of his head, emeralds glimmering again, and snorted sardonically, "_Arigato_, Sasuke."

There wasn't any -kun at the end of his name anymore. He felt a drop roll off the tip of her nose and fall onto his neck a millisecond before the butt of a kunai crashed swiftly into the base of his skull. He felt darkness tugging at him, the same darkness that swallowed him after he fought Itachi. It tugged at him impatiently and he slipped down into the vortex, the black.

* * *

Sakura turned towards Konoha, Sasuke dangling limp from her shoulders. She looked back to see the tree, still lying there, fire extinguished, in the pouring rain.

Ignoring the irony of the whole situation, she shifted Sasuke's weight on her back to free up her hands. Her calloused, slender fingers curved to the sequence of horse, tiger, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger. She really didn't need to use all of them, as her chakra control was impeccable, but she did anyway.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu."

She set the tree ablaze again and flew towards Konoha, grabbing Sasuke's arm and leg again, and leaving the tree to either be extinguished by the persistent rain, or burn itself to extinction.

Whichever came first. Either way, the scent of a thousand cherry blossoms hovered over the forest.

* * *

Well? Tell me what you think.

Cookies to those who picked up on the cherry tree metaphor. Chocolate to those who realized the irony of Sakura knocking out Sasuke and using a stereotypical Uchiha clan move. OH! And I put the Itachi references in there just for you, Epic-Angel-chan!

I love you all! :D R'n'R please!


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